Buy my books... when September ends...?

As September draws to a close, so does my first (full) month in PCP towers. I'm also ill (thanks freshers) so it's as good a time as any to do a roundup of new stock and also reflect a bit on how PCP is faring in general.

Games Omnivorous

GO is one of my favourite publishers around right now: Andre's design sensibilities paired with his strong aesthetic choices make for a killer combo of books which have entirely Immaculate Vibes™️. Here's what's new:

• Hexcrawl Toolbox
  • These things are chonky af, but they're a fantastic and very tangible way of bringing back some magic to your in-person RPG nights. The box is full of hexagonal tiles you can pick out at random to create a gonzo adventure on the fly, or a fun way of mapping out the next sandbox you'll unleash your party on.
• Frontier Scum
  • Did you, at any point during your playthrough of Red Dead Redemption 2 think to yourself: wow, I wish I could have a copy of this fella's shop catalogue? Now you can! Frontier Scum is a dead quick, no hit roll system soaked in LSD and Weird West vibes. It's bound between two thick sheets of board, with an exposed spine, and features tonnes of lovingly weathered art. I've played a session recently and it was a real laugh.
• Mausritter: Boxed Set
  • The Mausritter set is a joy to bring out at family events or in front of folks who might have been put off by the giant tomes of D&D. It contains everything you need to play, the pitch is killer, and every part of the text oozes character.
• Haunted Almanac
  • This collection of Nate Treme's works, beautified by Gontijo, is something I've not had a chance to read yet but always wanted to. Features some of his classics like Tunnel Goons and my favourite work of his: Mecha Dudes, in which you play make up the rules as you play through any illegally-obtained copy of a Wizards of the Coast adventure.

Other bits:

• Barkeep on the Borderlands

  • I bought some copies of this for last year's Dragonmeet and returned with exactly zero copies so I thought it'd be a good idea to buy more. Barkeep has a simple pitch: it's a barcrawl, stuffed to the brim with 20 different taverns and custom drinking rules you can lift and steal into your own OSR game of choice.

• Tephrotic Nightmares

  • Luke Gearing's latest: a MÖRK BORG ash-crawl. I've not had a chance to read this one yet but I'm a big fan of Gearing's writing and the book is spray-painted with so much blank ink that you have to literally crack its spine to open. That feels like a selling point in itself.

• Electric Archives: Issues 1 and 2

  • The much-awaited sequel to Electric Archives is back, and with it a long-due reprint of Electric Archives 1.

• Coming soon:

  • Beyond Corny Gron
  • Thousand Year Old Vampire
  • Book of Gaub restock
  • Beyond the Pale
  • Meatheads

How is PCP doing?

Okay so, between stocking up and outfitting the studio, I've burned a lot of cash recently. I've had to hire a new accountant, renew my Shopify plan (last time we did this, it was for two years...), renew the Ghost subscription (there are now 1,068 of you which means that I actually have to pay $40/month, up from $15/month so please please buy my books), and there's a tax bill heading my way next month too. That was all expected, so we're good on that front.

I've got a burn rate of roughly £1,000/month right now, not including buying new stock. I had, back at the end of July, estimated that PCP would generate about £600/month in sales for the first few months, ramping up to £800, and then hopefully £1,000 in the new year. The good news is that I've actually hit over £1,000 in sales for both August and September. Plus, some fulfilment work is in the calendar for the future, a couple of layout commissions, and a Mothership Month project coming up in November.

I'm a little scared that this is giving me undue confidence (easily shaken too - I've not had any orders come through in two and a half days and my inner voice is saying that it's all over). I've set May as the ultimate Decision Point. If things aren't feasible at that point, then I'm calling it quits. I think that my goal is somewhere around £2,000/month to be able to comfortably buy new stock and keep the lights on. PCP has done this before, so it is possible, but running a business is stressful at the best of times.

I'm continuously toying with the website to make it a little more welcoming for people who have no idea where to start if all they know is D&D 5e. To that end, this week I added "Buying Guides" on the front page which give short pitches about some products according to a theme. I'd love to hear some feedback about how the website feels to navigate and ways I can make the browsing experience better.

Milk Bar

Progress here has been slow. BUT! I recently asked Chris Airiau to come on to the project and help move things along - Chris has written for me previously and his work is really, really good so I'm very happy to have his support. Matt's also been working away on some item illustrations that I'll be able to show off soon.

That said, Milk Bar patches came this weekend!

That's all from me for now! Let me know if this makes for good newsletter content! In my sick state I've been playing a lot of Euro Truck Simulator 2 (I just love logistics man), so I think I'll head to do that some more.

Have a great week folks!

Eryk xoxo